(New York) OutRight Action International kicks off the Global Week of Advocacy, where dozens of LGBTIQ activists from 29 countries from every region of the world has come to participate in the organization’s 6th annual United Nations (UN) Week of Advocacy. From December 4 to 8, human rights defenders meet with government representatives and UN officials.

Advocates will meet dignitaries such as Karel J.G. van Oosterom, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UN and United Kingdom’s Ambassador to the UN Matthew Rycroft, and UN diplomats from the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Europe, the Asia Pacific and Latin America. They will also meet with representatives from UN Women, the UN Development Programme and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Jessica Stern, Executive Director of Outright Action International, comments on the significance of the Global Week of Advocacy, saying,

“Advocacy week allows for LGBTIQ voices and lived realities to be brought to the attention of Ambassadors and diplomats at the United Nations, people with power to influence change at the international level. At the same time it offers activists from the world over to come together to strategize and learn from each other. The purpose is to catalyze real, positive change in the lives of LGBTIQ people.”

This year there will also be two meetings specifically focused on trans and intersex issues, hosted by the missions of Denmark and Argentina, and Malta, respectively. Read more via Out Right International